no one does it better
by misguideddreamer
Summary: amidst the glittering skyscrapers of new york city, katherine pierce has amassed an army of supernatural beings, ready to destroy klaus at the slightest provocation. elijah mikaelson does not expect to be caught in the crossfire of a brutal war when he returns to find katherine.
1. prologue

**01: Prologue**

_Chapter song- Bad Blood; Bastille_

Lifting the sparkling glass of champagne to her lips, Katherine smiled as she took a small sip, aware that when she lowered it, there would be crimson lipstick on the rim. Like blood, she thought, and felt the familiar prick of fangs in her mouth, although she quickly forced them down again.

Blood lust was rarely something she indulged in anymore. To be fair, she had never been addicted- she had seen first-hand what the thirst for human blood could do to a person. No, she was far too clever to fall into that particular trap.

The party- her party- was in full swing, and it was difficult to believe that the person she was just a few short years ago had created this. The Katherine she remembered danced all over the world, too scared of her own shadow to even think about turning back. Someone touched her shoulder briefly and she turned on one silver stiletto to greet the witch with a smile, revelling in the feel of the champagne silk gown she was wearing and its slide over her legs.

"You've done well," Maya said, the folds of her purple silk gown shimmering as she moved to embrace Katherine. No one would think, looking at her now that she had been a broken, feral thing, just a year ago. She was the closest thing to family Katherine had.

Handing the barely touched champagne to a passing waiter, Katherine nabbed a sugared strawberry off the silver refreshments plate, smirking at the curly headed man across the room as she bit into it. Beside her, Maya groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?" She asked, green eyes flashing as Katherine turned to her with a smile.

"God, it's not like I'm sleeping with him," and she wasn't. Nathan wasn't even remotely attracted to her, although he did have a few lingering feelings for the witch standing beside her, if Katherine's instincts were right.

"I'll have you know," Katherine began, biting back a laugh, "We just happen to have an extremely unconventional friendship."

Maya raised an eyebrow at her and smiled, the ghost of a smile touching her lips. "Well, bedroom eyes at a formal event such as this are impolite, and you know that as well as I do, Miss Pierce."

Katherine's smirk returned full force, widening into a smile. "And when have I ever cared about propriety?" She bit back, turning to walk away with the soft sound of Maya's laughter following her.

* * *

"Do a speech!" Someone called from the centre of the ballroom, and she squinted to find the werewolf Piper, beaming at her with her glass held aloft in mock salute. The crowd gathered seemed to agree, and Katherine raised an eyebrow before sighing and beginning to walk to the centre of the marbled ballroom, aided by a few helpful shoves from Nathan and Maya. She took one look at the glittering chandeliers before her, the strings of their diamonds gleaming, drew a deep breath, and began.

"Only a few years ago," She started as a hush fell over the gleaming room, "I thought I was irrevocably broken. I was so tired of running, so tired I contemplated taking off my daylight necklace and burning before Klaus could reach me. My story is not unique, and this is something all of you know so much better than anyone else. You have all experienced loss because of him, and we have all decided not to take this any longer. All of you have found me; through some contacts, through some other means. Together, we are the largest-group; pack; coven of supernatural beings to exist, but to each other, we are so much more. We've found something many of us believed to be taken away from us forever- and that is family. So thank you all."

Katherine took in the appreciative faces surrounding her, the smiles that told her that everyone there knew exactly what she was talking about, and beamed. Klaus had taken everything from her, but he would not take this, she told herself firmly. She would not let him.

"You look gorgeous," George said from behind her, and she thanked him quietly. He was a little older, by around 50 years, and had come into contact with her after Klaus ripped apart him entire town and turned him to serve his family. Apparently, he had served at the very manor where she had been trapped, and had ultimately, met her end.

"Aren't you worried for us?" She asked, feeling the familiar clink of her diamond ring as she shifted her fingers on the stem of her glass. "Aren't you worried," She repeated, "That he is coming for us?"

"Always," He confessed, the smooth stone of his face twisting slightly as he frowned. "But I believe we have the means to destroy him."

"We have the cure, yes, we have an army, but his is not the honourable way. He will not meet us out in the open."

Almost like clockwork, Nathan appeared before her, smile at the ready.

"Great speech up there," He said, taking in the slight frown at her forehead.

"Thank you."

"It was so cheesy I wanted to kill myself."

"Shut up," Katherine hit him with the back of her hand, ring finger connecting with his chest.

He caught her finger and looked at the gleaming stone on it, twisting it. "You never told us why you wear that thing. It's not a daylight ring, I know that. It looks like…a wedding ring."

"I made some bad decisions a couple of years ago," She said cryptically, "Now why are you over here bothering me?"

"I was looking for Maya." Katherine poked him in the arm, a knowing- if condescending- smile on her face as the witch strode through the double doors at the end of the ballroom, a heavy frown on her face.

Nathan stepped forward before the brunette reached Katherine. "Are witches always this moody?"

Maya rolled her eyes and neatly sidestepped him, causing Katherine to let out a slight snicker.

"There's someone at the doors insisting on seeing you, Katherine, and the guards could not deter him."

Katherine turned to the doors, smile at the ready, waving off Maya's concern.

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"You don't understand- he had a crest on his ring finger. He-"

An ominous hush cloaked the room, as the rest of its occupants turned to the doors, before a smattering of whispering broke out. Katherine kept her smile firmly in place and tried not to think about who it could be.

"What is he doing here?-"

"Do you think Klaus sent him?"  
"Oh my god…"

Her eyes widened the slightest bit as he walked towards her, enough for him to have noticed, with his supernatural senses. It didn't feel like real life, she thought, as the clean cut figure in a suit she had dreamt about for so long strode towards her.

She rotated back to Maya slowly, the barest hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"It appears that my husband has returned," Katherine said slowly, twisting the diamond ring around her finger.

* * *

a/n: Okay, so this is a new story. I originally planned it to be around 15 chapters, and then realized I can't commit for that long, so it should be around 5-10 chapters. It will be Kalijah, and it will have OCs as well. This is also the most ridiculously cliched story I've ever written, and hopefully I'll enjoy writing it, but updates will probably be slow and sporadic :(

katherine and maya's outfits can be found at tagged/NODIB

please review because it keeps me motivated and helps me to make the story better, than you so much! :D


	2. i howl when we're apart

chapter song: howl- florence + the machine

**02: Chapter One**

Beside her, Maya gaped and clutched Katherine's arm as if she was struggling to remain upright. Katherine shook her arm off gently, patting her hand and sending her the most reassuring smile she could muster. All the while, she kept her gaze locked on Elijah. He looked better, she thought, with his close cropped hair and the barest hint of stubble. Sexier, she smirked as she started towards him.

"Pretend," She muttered to Nathan as he came to stand in his way, and he nodded as she passed him, fingers grazing the chest of his suit.

Behind her the quiet rumblings of conversation started up again as she heard Maya and George begin to move quietly through the crowd, beginning conversations again discreetly as they did. "Come with me," She grabbed for his hand and tugged him along behind her, refusing to look Elijah directly in the eye as she moved them to one of the empty meeting rooms on the other side of the buildings.

"What are you doing here?" Katherine focused on the spot of darkened wall directly behind his head as she dropped his hand and whirled around to face him.

With Elijah comes a whole barrage of emotions she didn't have time to deal with. He always had- before it had been the memory of the darkened corridors where she'd crushed her chest to his and whispered into his ears _I never wanted Klaus, only ever you_- and then the memory of his eyes as they'd gazed into hers, right before he left her at the mercy of Klaus- and now, there was the remembrance that they were together, that they knew each other's souls for some time, that they were each other's sun and stars.

The feel of his hands in her hair as he pressed a kiss to the strands gathered at the nape of her neck, lips soft and insistent against her own-

"I came back to find you," He confessed, and it was as heartbreaking to hear as when he stood in front of her and told her that he was leaving her again, for Klaus.

"No," Katherine walked towards him, sliding her fingertips across the oak of the meeting table in front of her, "You don't get to do that anymore. You left me, not the other way round. What made you think that I would wait for you, that I would even ever want you again?"

"Katerina," He sighed, shaking his head like she was a fucking child he had to convince, as if he was saying- _not this again, katherine with her tantrums- _

"Cut the bullshit," She snarled, "And tell me why Klaus said you could reconcile with me, or tell me, did he send you here to kill me?"

"What makes you think I'm here with Klaus' approval?"

God, she wondered, was he being intentionally dense? "I asked you to cut the bullshit." Her fingers wrapped into fists of their own accord, fangs elongating in her mouth. Katherine Pierce could be fearless, even in front of an Original, _especially_ when she had an army waiting just a few rooms away, poised to attack. Killing an Original would be good practice for them, she supposed.

"I am not lying to you-"

"Just omitting a few truths, I suppose-"

"Very well, Klaus requested I came here, is that what you wanted to hear?"

It was what she _didn't_ want to hear, but it was the truth, and Katherine supposed it was better than the half lies he tried-and failed- to spin to her moments before, as if she didn't already didn't know him inside out.

"What I want is for you to leave me alone. For good."

"I'll go," He said, and in her mind he looked defeated, shoulders slumped as he walked away from her for what must have been the eightieth time that century alone. In reality, Elijah's posture remained as good as ever as he left.

"But we still need to talk," He called, one foot in and one foot out of the door.

"I can't imagine what about," She drawled, fingers instinctively reaching for her diamond wedding ring after he left.

* * *

**15th July 2012**

It's Vegas they go to, exactly one year after they 'bump into each other' again in St. Petersburg, stepping out into sin city together with fingers curled around each others.

"I love this place, " Katherine smiles as they reach their suite in Cesear's.

"You and every other vampire," Elijah says as he stretches upwards, the white of his t-shirt that he's only wearing because Katherine's been trying so hard to convince him that casual wear suits him just as much as other clothing does, and she looks at the strip of skin he reveals with unmasked approval.

"Ugh," He chuckles when he catches her eye, and she smirks at him, "You are insatiable."

"Makes a nice change, doesn't it?" She leans up to claim his lips in a kiss, easy and slow, like coming home. "Usually you're the horny one."

He frowns because, he doesn't 'approve' of such _vulgar_ language, and Katherine laughs and kisses the tip of his nose, dancing out of reach of his fingertips as she goes downstairs to get them both coffees.

There's a bride in front of her, swanlike and regal against the backdrop of thrill seeking tourists, white chiffon of her dress floating around her in layers. Katherine looks at her, head cocked to one side as she begins to think about being a bride herself-

"I want to get married," She says five minutes later, bursting into the suite sans coffee, and startling Elijah who is reading the day's paper.

"What?" He looks up as if he doesn't really understand what she just said, and she begins to laugh, dropping to her knees before him.

"I want to get married, Elijah Mikaelson. Will you marry me?"

.

.

.

It's messy, she won't pretend it's not. The idea plants itself so firmly in her mind that she demands they get married that very night, then goes hunting in Marchesa for a suitably stunning wedding dress while Elijah runs off somewhere to buy her a wedding ring.

"Meet you back at the suite in an hour," She says to him, and gasps when he snatches her for an impromptu kiss, lips crushing against hers as she locks her hands behind his neck.

The dress she chooses is emerald silk with a black lace overlay on the bodice, and she makes him wait for her in the lobby when he's changed into his tux, pushing him out so she can get ready in peace, she says to him, ducking away from him as he tries to give her one quick peck on the lips and telling him it's bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding_._

As if we didn't already have all the bad luck in the world, she thinks as she sticks some sapphires in the lobes of her ears after an internal debate on whether blue eyeshadow counts as something blue. It doesn't, she decides as she slides the door to the suite shut and goes down to meet her fiance of three hours.

"You look beautiful," He says and she rests her head on the crook of his shoulder, rumpling her perfect curls. She doesn't care, only grips his arm tighter and sighs happily as they walk towards the chapel, the very picture of a _power-couple_.

"So do you," She smiles up at him and thinks she might explode, that this playing at being human thing that they've got going something is finally letting some light into their lives.

Katerina Petrova and Elijah Mikaelson are married in a rather upscale Vegas chapel, one with stained glass windows reflecting a multitude of colors onto them, bathing them in blue and red and yellow and green. I am happy, Katerina thinks, raising her gaze to his before they kiss, like they have done- hundreds- thousands of times before, but this time it's different. This is a start over, this is where her life with him truly begins.

* * *

**Present Day**

"You're _so stupid-" _Maya cried, eyes widening of their own accord as Katherine slumped into her seat and stopped talking. The coffee shop where the three sat was one they frequented on a regular basis, small and cozy and overflowing with books which had escaped their respective bookshelves. When she first arrived in New York, Katherine had hated it upon first sight.

"She's actually right for once," Nathan agreed, never once taking his eyes off his iPhone. Maya shot him a glare and leaned forward in her chair, coffee left cooling and forgotten to her right.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Katherine said defensively, holding up her arms in mock surrender and slumping even further in her chair.

She stared angrily at the caramel latte in her hand as if she was hoping it would spontaneously combust, and when she looked up, Maya and Nathan were both eyeing her with concern.

"God, I'll get over it," Katherine said, "Heaven knows I'm already over him."

"That wasn't even halfway convincing," Nathan muttered, setting his phone down on the table and turning to face her. "Just...be careful, okay? You're not the smartest of vampires even when your emotions aren't messing with you."

Maya frowned and slapped Nathan on the arm with the back of her hand, ignoring his hiss of pain. "Ow, what was that for? I was only telling the truth!"

"What he means to say, is that sometimes you think with your heart and not your head, _like normal people do,_" She flung a pointed glance in Nathan's direction before continuing, "and we're just worried for you because we care about you."

"I said that all already," Nathan groaned, "You don't need to spell it out for her, she's not dumb."

"Will you please shut up and go back to your phone- you're not helping!"

"I'm helping more than you are, candy coating every word like Kat's a baby-"

"Guys," Katherine tried to interject over their bickers, raising one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "You're not five years old."

"_I'm _not," Maya said, reaching for her lukewarm coffee and taking a sip.

"What are you going to tell the pack about Elijah?"

"The truth? That Klaus sent him?"

"Katherine," Maya started, pinning Katherine to her seat with a single glance, "We're family. We tell each other everything, that's the point."

"Fine, I'll tell them, but they won't like it."

"Can I just say," Nathan started, a pleased smile flitting over his features, "That I totally called all of this when I asked you why you were wearing a wedding ring?"

"Shut up!," Maya growled, and Katherine returned to her coffee with an absent smile and let them continue with their argument.

* * *

She finally reaches her apartment at nine, long after the last rays of orange-pink sunset have flitted from the sky, leaving an inky blackness specked with airplane lights in their wake. Katherine inserts her key into the lock and flicks on the light, illuminating the room with a yellowy orangeness that shows the fact that she forgot to tidy up the blood bags in the kitchen in perfect detail.

The dried blood on them rubbed uncomfortably against her hands and she wished for a second that being a vampire wasn't so _messy _as she shoved them impatiently in the bin and reached for the notebook in her satchel.

She had to the inventory for the offices and do the total numbers for how many witches there were- she remembered George saying earlier today that there were two new additions, so she'd have to do a background check on those to make sure they weren't just spies sent by Klaus or some other supernatural villain. Or even a hunter- those were getting rather too curious about their little society lately.

The shrill sound of the doorbell cut through the internal lists she was making, and Katherine clapped her hands to her ears and groaned. Whoever it was could wait til tomorrow, but then she remembered the countless time some werewolf or vampire or witch had shown up at her door, tired of running and seeking shelter from her.

"Katerina?"

"You know," She began, opening the door and allowing him to stride in, "When I used to hear you say my name, back in England, it used to comfort me. Now all I want to do when you say Katerina is rip your heart out with my nails."

He chuckled and moved slowly towards her, fingers playing with the edge of the notebook she left on her desk.

"Don't touch that," She snapped, ripping it away from his prying eyes. She doesn't know how much he does know about everything she's doing, but she sure as hell doesn't want be the reason he finds out.

Elijah's face is a mask when he turns to her again, "You said we could talk."

"Yes- on my terms. Stalking me to my apartment and forcing yourself into it doesn't count."

"Can't you just-"

"What? Accept that you'll always chose your darling brother over me and welcome you back with open arms? No, I can't do that, Elijah."

"You did it before," He said, and she understood that he didn't really believe that she could do it again. The man she used to know understood the reason for her walls, and understood even better that he was the reason for those walls.

"And you made me a fool," She turned away and shielded her eyes from him, "Please- please leave. I'll call you again and we'll talk later. Just go."

He does.

Katherine focused on his footsteps leaving her apartment building with a determination she hadn't shown until she saw the mangled body of a vampire she once knew, lying ripped apart by Klaus' hand.

"Maya?" She clenched the phone in between her fingers and told herself to take steady breaths.

"Kat? Are you alright? No wait don't answer that I can hear you trying to breathe."

"You'll never guess who just showed up at my apartment."

"I probably will." She could imagine Maya's face, sitting there on her couch in her big cardigan, a huge frown on her face as she glared at her cup of rosehip tea.

"How do I get him to go?"

"No offence, but I don't think you can just make an Original vamp do anything." Katherine slumped on the leather sofa and fiddled with the grey silk cushions, listening to the tell tale sound of Maya's breathing.

"I could lay a few more protective charms down-"

"No. I have to deal with this now, so he doesn't kill me later. It's just...he makes me feel like I'm caught between the peasant girl I used to be, and the vampire bitch I projected onto everyone and who I am now, but at the same time I'm none of them."

"So he makes you uncomfortable because he knows you too well."

"Yes-No, but when I see him, it brings back so many memories that just chip away at who I am now, and I'm scared there will be nothing left when he's gone."

"Kat, you'll survive this."

"I know I'll survive this," She finished impatiently, "I always do. I'm worried about what will be left of me."

Katherine put down the phone, forcing herself to continue with her big black book and the scrawling ink all over the pages. She owed her life to these people, the names scribbled in the book and she'd be damned if she let a small thing like an estranged husband get in the way of that.

* * *

She showed up in the basement at six o'clock Wednesday night like she always does, every Wednesday fortnight, like clockwork. The Basement, as it was dubbed by everyone who used it, was their usual meeting place, and they'd spent a full six months equipping it with everything any of them could need.

To the left, there was a full wall of spellbooks and potion equipment and ingredients, as bought and kept tidy by Maya's mother. The bloodbags were on the other side of the wall, kept secure by locked safes. Fighting stuff- stakes, wolfsbane, the lot, was directly in front of her. The beanbags all over the carpeted floor were everyone's favorite part of the Basement.

Katherine took a seat on a particularly squashy purple beanbag, sitting next to Piper.

"These things never fail to make me feel ridiculous and old," She confessed, setting the black book down beside her.

"What are you on about? Don't lie, these things are the best part of the Basement."

Piper poked her and let out a bark of laughter- "You're just far too old to appreciate this kind of thing."

Next to her, her girlfriend plopped down on the carpet by her feet and sighed. "So what's the deal with Elijah?," She asked, unrestrained curiosity in her gaze.

"Come on, spill," Piper said, knocking a knee against Katherine's.

"I'm tell everyone at the same time," Katherine stood again as more people began to file in, and made her way to where George was standing. "I'll see you guys around."

George looked up from his phone when she approached, shaking his head. "Klaus wants blood," He confessed, "Yours."

"Still?" She sighed, "I'm obviously a danger to everyone here, but I can't just disappear."

"Stand your ground," He advised. "This particular fight's been brewing for a while. If we can keep Elijah here, we can use him to our advantage."

Bile rose in her throat as she realized what George was suggesting. Manipulate Elijah, keep him here, and use him against Klaus.

"I'm not sure I can do it. A few years ago- yes. But not now. I want a fair fight."

He placed a hand on her arm and nodded. "Then I suggest coming clean to these guys."

How do I do that? She wanted to scream. How can I make them understand, that he was my everything and I was so fucking stupid that I let him again. Maya turned to smile at her from the corner of the room, and Katherine understood, then, that they were her family, and family understood things like this.

"Elijah's here, because of Klaus," She started, "But also because of me. A few years ago, I fell in love with him, and now he says he wants me back."

"Does he pose a threat to us?" Pipers girlfriend piped up from the corner of the room.

"Not at present. I'll inform you guys if anything new crops up."

That was it, and judging by the looks of everyone in the room, that was enough. Katherine searched for a resentful expression, and to her relief, found none. The pack went back to discussing hunter disturbances in the area and wondering whether or not to just kill them and be done with it. Katherine thought of the feel of a human heart in between her fingers, the flesh squidgy and the blood trailing down her fingers, and hoped with a shudder that none of them would experience that.

* * *

She was walking through Central Park with a bottle of her favorite Merlot in her hand when she heard him fall into step beside her. Katherine cleared her throat and ran an absent finger through her hair and continued walking away from him.

"You said you were going to call me," His fingers trailed along her forearm and she stopped to face him, wine bottle crashing to the floor as it shattered.

Behind her, the leaves picked up speed as the wind whistled around them, and Katherine burrowed herself deeper into her trench coat.

"I was going to- I will," Up and down her arm, his fingers moved, and she took a deep breath and was almost ready to fling him across the room when he spoke.

"You have a nephew."

"What?"

"Klaus has a son."

"That poor baby."

He frowned; she laughed. Klaus was going to rip that little boy apart with dreams and hopes he would project onto him. Katherine felt so sorry for him she had half a mind to rescue him herself.

"Come back with me," He implored, finger curling around her wrist and tugging her towards him. "I need you."

His words reminded her of sleepy nights spent entangled in the sheets and in each other, of the way he would look at her right before he kissed her on the forehead, reverent and worshipful. He made her feel as if she was the Queen of everything, and Katherine wasn't sure if that was a pedestal he placed her on or whether it was true love.

Centuries old and she still doesn't understand love. She looked up at Elijah, caught the hope in his eyes, and gently unfastened his fingers from her wrist.

"No," She said, taking a step away from him on slightly wobbly legs. "I can't come back with you."

"I'm sorry," She whispered after he left, standing there on that empty side walk with frostbitten dead leaves swirling around her ankles.

* * *

a/n: this story is killing me to write why can't this be the show I want kalijah centric vampire diaries where they're happy and adopt an orphanage full of lost cats or something I'm sorry this update is so sloppy

thank you for all of your lovely reviews on the previous chapter, any ideas on where I should go with this?


	3. we picked ourselves undone

_chapter song is flaws by bastille- enjoy!_

**03: Chapter Two**

* * *

**Two Weeks Previously**

They're sitting across from each other in the study, occupied with accounts (well Elijah is) and the like, when Klaus looks up and begins to talk about Katerina. It is abrupt, and Elijah's spine stiffens when he hears her name fall from his brother's lips, the roll of Bulgarian on his tongue.

"She defied me," Klaus begins, steepling his fingers and leaning back into his chair. Elijah continues with his accounts and wonders when he'll be able to leave and go see his nephew. "That was unforgivable."

"Yes," Elijah says absentmindedly, sifting through the latest report on Bekah and Kol's whereabouts and trying _not, _under any circumstances to think about Katerina. He was the one that left her, he reminds himself; now he must face the consequences.

If the consequences are another lover, he knows he won't be able to face them.

"You're married. It was a foolish decision, but..."

"It wasn't a foolish decision," Elijah says, finally pushing his papers aside as the need to protect her strikes as it always does and giving Klaus his undivided attention. "I _loved _her. I wanted to get married to her." Using _loved _in the past tense doesn't seem to agree with him, Elijah notes, stacking the papers neatly and watching Klaus fight to control the spiteful expression that mars his features.

He clears his throat and Klaus turns to him.

"Bring her back," Klaus says. "This has gone on long enough. She deserves to know her family.

Elijah looks at Klaus as if he thinks he's lost his mind and stands, every line in his body tensed. "What makes you think she would want to come back?"

Klaus shrugs and Elijah looks at him incredulously- after everything, he still believes that she would come back to him, after everything they both have done to the girl?

"I'll offer my protection."

"Why?" It doesn't make sense, there has been no forewarning to this; not even a single mention of Katerina for months, and the last time she _was _mentioned, her name was synonymous with a curse.

"I don't want my son to have too many enemies."

Elijah laughs- Klaus' son will have to be watched around the clock to ensure his safety- there have already been a number of assassination attempts- and Katerina is the least of his worries. He has half a mind to spit in Klaus' face and walk out, but then he remembers Phoebe and how completely, woefully out of depth she is in their world. None of them can make her comfortable with it, and its effect on her is having a knock on attempt on their six month old nephew.

"I'll go," He says to Klaus, reaching for his coat and shrugging it on, "But I doubt that we shall come back here and live with you. If she'll have me again, we shall try to find peace. It is more than we deserve."

He compels himself onto the first flight to New York, and wonders how much she will have changed. He wants to see her again- more than anything, he feels as if he's been thinking about her since she first came to him in England and spoke with a slight Bulgarian accent and he can't seem to stop.

* * *

**Present Day**

Katherine stepped out of her shower the next morning and ignored the stress headache pounding in her veins. She couldn't do anything about that- it had been brought on by seeing Elijah again, and knowing that he wanted her back. For the longest time, it had been her wanting him, her that seemed weak while she bared her feelings and her heart and he stood by, she thought. It seemed that a new age was upon them.

Maya told her last night to call him and get it over and done with, and that was exactly what she decided to do, so she shot him a text and told him to come by and talk to her before work.

She dressed carefully, and knew that if she was a human, her heart would be pounding and her palms would be sweaty. As it was, she had a nervous tick that makes her keep tapping her stilettoed foot against the wooden floorboards in her hall.

He took longer than she expected- in her experience, Elijah was always punctual, especially when it came to her. She reached for her large black notebook and began going over new entries into The Basement and evaluating whether some of the rehabilitated hybrids were going to be okay with being introduced to The Basement. A lot of them found that they couldn't cut it, and preferred to move further away and provide eyes for their company.

Katherine reached for her trench coat when it became apparent that Elijah wasn't, in fact, going to show. The sharp knock on her door once her coat was fully buttoned told her that he timing was nothing if not shit.

"Hey," She said, and allowed him to step into the apartment.

"Good morning." He looked so good, she thought with an internal sigh. She'd spent three years trying to build herself back up, all the while building a company of her own, and he strode into everything she'd created, and took her breath away.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Elijah stared at her, and shifted uncomfortably where he stood. Katherine made a point of checking the time on her watch. "I came here to see if you wanted me back, but it appears I have stumbled on something so much more than that."

"Yes," She said curtly, and opened her door again. "Now run back to Klaus if you have nothing else to say to me."

Elijah walked to stand before her slowly, and Katherine was reminded of all the times she would look up at him and crush her mouth to his. She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes as he brushed past her.

"You're still wearing the ring," He whispered against her ear, jaw brushing her cheek and he grasped the diamond ring in his fingers. She closed her eyes, and he was gone.

The problem with past lovers, was that you'd never forget how intimately you once knew each other, and Katherine supposed that was the dilemma she faced with Elijah. She needed to keep him at arm's length while all she wanted to do was take him back to her arms.

She turned out of the apartment and stowed the key in the pocket of her trench coat, aware that to burn out a story that had started centuries ago, she would have to wait centuries more.

* * *

Nathan strode up to her the minute she entered the offices, coffee cup in one hand, which he passed to her as he grasped her arm. "There's been a call on eighth," he said, "Piper just called me and told me Sophia got attacked by hunters."

"Shit," She cursed softly, heels clattering on the pavement as they began to run. Piper and Sophia had been together since they were eighteen, and Katherine had met them when they were twenty after a vicious attack on werewolves by hunters. "Where's Sophia?"

"Upstate, meeting some witches."

"Come on," She shouted and pulled him with her. They were only a couple of blocks away now anyway. "Do you know how bad it was?"

"Severe," Nathan said grimly as they skidded to halt at the mouth of the street.

"There's no point," She said to Nathan, a sinking feeling erupting in her stomach as she saw the crimson on the neck of the crumpled body at her feet. "She's been bitten by a werewolf."

"I thought it was hunters that got her?"

"They obviously had help." The two picked their way through the street to reach Sophia, unconscious in a pile of rubble. Nathan lifted her into his arms and moved the hair that was covering her werewolf bite.

"We can't do anything for her," He said, and Katherine cringed internally. _They _might not be able to, but she certainly could.

"Take her back to The Basement," Katherine commanded, already reaching for her cellphone and locating Elijah's number. "And get me the address of the Mikaelson club in New York."

"You can't possibly-"

"I have to, Nathan," she ran a hand through her hair and looked at him. "I can't just let her die."

"There will be consequences," He shifted Sophia in his arms and Katherine bent to look at the vampire's clammy skin, already fading. "This will not come without a price."

"Don't pretend you wouldn't do the same thing."

"This is different-" He reached for her arm as she turned, the address flashing on her phone screen.

"We're family." Katherine said finally, shrugging off his arm and nodding her head in the direction of the offices. "This is what family do."

She waited by the alleyway as Nathan blurred Sophia away, ready to fight off any hunters that might come back, but none came. Sooner rather than later, she told herself, and made way for the Upper East Side with a quiet groan.

* * *

The club hadn't changed since she'd last visited with him, large and imposing and screaming _old money_. The plush red carpet cushioned her heels as she stepped into the lobby, surrounded by dark wood paneling and low lit lamps.

"Is Mr. Mikaelson in?" She asked the blonde vampire on the front desk, watching him narrow his eyes and tap something onto his computer.

"He's asked not to be disturbed."

She tossed her hair back and leant over the desk, looking at the blonde directly- "Tell him it's his wife."- and she had to fight off the giggle that always rose to her throat when she told people that.

But she was only messing with him- they weren't married, not really. Not anymore, at least.

"Go up," the man said, indicating a private elevator to the right, and Katherine took note of the slightest tone of respect in his voice. Stupid, she thought, that she needed to marry his boss to earn respect when she could destroy him and do her nails at the same time.

The elevator ride was short, but long enough to make her anxious ticks return. Katherine reached for her phone and texted Nathan, trying in vain to find some sort of distraction. It didn't come. The place was riddled with memories- they'd visited it about a year after their wedding and stayed for six months, if she remembered correctly.

Katherine loved New York- she loved the vampire culture there, the shopping, the fast paced lifestyle. It was a city that made it easy to forget she was centuries old, and one of the few places she was always drawn back to. She'd loved it more with Elijah.

They'd gone to discover the city again together- Elijah had taken her to the upper class restaurants crammed with vampires, and shown her the exclusive clubs that ran alongside them, just for supernaturals. Katherine had taken him down to where she felt more comfortable- with _normal_ people, she'd joked, seedy little clubs with pretentious rock bands playing every night.

The lift dinged to a stop and Katherine stepped out, tightening the belt on her trench coat and looking at the double doors in front of her impassively. Sophia, she reminded herself, and pushed them open.

He was standing by the huge windows when she entered, looking out over the skyscrapers of New York. Katherine took a deep breath and put her game face on, one she hadn't worn in years- one she was weary of wearing.

"Honey," She drawled, moving to stand beside him. "I'm home."

"Afternoon, Katerina," Elijah turned to face her and looked at her for a few seconds before taking a seat on an armchair. "Would you like anything to drink?"

She smiled as best as she could and took a seat opposite him, crossing her ankles and leaning forward on the leather.

"Not a drink, no, but I require your services."

"Can't imagine why." He leaned back in his seat and surveyed her. Katherine took special care to not waver, keeping her back straight and posture correct. "What do you need?"

"A very good friend of mine," Katherine started, "Has unfortunately been bitten by werewolves."

He made a noise of understanding and stood. Katherine followed, cursing him as he moved to the kitchen and began to shuffle around in the cupboards- he knew she would have to follow him, he knew-

"And why," He said, setting a crystal vial down on the marble breakfast bar, "Should I help you?"

"That's what husbands do for their wives," She stepped closer, enough so that there was but a centimeter of space between their bodies and even in heels she had to crane her neck to see him.

"Or," Katherine ran her hand gently over his forearm, "Had you forgotten?"

He stepped back away from her and ran a hand through his hair, and she had to admit she was happy that for once, she was the one that unnerved him. God knows he needed a little rattling.

"Don't speak nonsense, Katerina," Elijah looked at her steadily, "You've been nothing but foul to me since I stepped foot in New York."

"Fine," She slid onto the breakfast bar beside him; when all she really wanted to do was scream (what did you expect), "I thought you'd do it from the goodness of your heart, but I suppose I shall have to offer you something in return."

Time was running out, she thought as her phone buzzed in her pocket, and had to fight to keep her mask from slipping. "What do you want?"

"Two things. One, that you come with me tonight to our restaurant. Two, that you show me around this little organisation of yours."

"As if I'm letting you anywhere near-" Elijah raised an eyebrow at her as the phone buzzed again, and Katherine wanted to scream.

"Fine," She smiled tightly and held out her hand. "You have my word."

He shook it firmly, before opening his wrist and filling the vial with blood. Katherine watched the dark, thick liquid drip into the vial with a sense of relief. Whatever she lost today, at least Sophia would be okay. "I'll pick you up at nine," he said, and she rolled her eyes and blurred herself away.

* * *

"So," Maya said, running a hand through her tight curls. "You're even more of an idiot than I first thought."

Nathan chuckled from where he was lying on Katherine's sofa, clad in an already rumpled suit. "I'm doing the best I can," Katherine groaned, adjusting the hem of her black bodycon dress. "He just messes me up."

"You look like a hooker," Nathan remarked, raising his head from his phone, and taking in the lace sleeves and the cutout of her dress. "I like it- ow, jesus Maya, I was only telling the truth!"

He rubbed the side of his head and sent a baleful glare Maya's way. Maya smiled and shrugged and Katherine concentrated on applying the last coat of her mascara.

"He's going to come soon," Maya moved to help Katherine arrange her hair, "Have you told him that we're coming?"

Katherine allowed herself a smile and shook her head. Elijah was going to be in for a shock when he realized that Nathan and Maya were coming along with them, but there was absolutely no way she was going in there without her moral support. And moral support for her came in the form of a witch and werewolf who were completely in love with each other and too blind to see it. "Speaking of which, I haven't told you two that for the purpose of tonight, you'll be very much in love."

Maya choked on the truffle she wasn't supposed to be eating and Katherine watched Nathan watch her reaction with a smile. "What?"

"Just relax," Katherine said as the doorbell rang, leaving Maya to heave Nathan to his feet. "You'll have fun."

'Their restaurant,' as Elijah and Katherine had dubbed it way back, was actually the first place Elijah saw her after her flight from Klaus. He'd told her much later on, that he'd seen her laughing with a man in the restaurant and couldn't bring himself to give her up. Cute, Katherine had said when she'd first heard him say that, and then questioned much later on why she should be happy he hadn't given her up when she hadn't even been in the wrong in the first place.

If Elijah was displeased with Nathan and Maya's presence, he was far too polite to show it. He was polite throughout the whole dinner, and Katherine admitted to wanting to stab him with her butter knife every time he looked at her and smiled.

"This place," Maya proclaimed halfway through her cheesecake, waving her fork around. "Is way too fancy."

"The first time I was here, it was for a date with a billionaire," Katherine smiled at Elijah, who only raised an eyebrow at her, his face a complete mask, "so."

Nathan was entirely too engrossed in his cheesecake to answer. Maya groaned and Katherine poked him with her foot when the dance floor lights came on, and people started to head towards the floor, jerking her head in that direction.

"Dance with me," Elijah said, when Maya and Nathan had left them to dance, prompted by Katherine's hints and finally, pushed out of their booth by Katherine.

He must have read the hesitation in her face, because he held out his hand and smiled at her. "For old times sake."

It was probably the worst decision she'd made, but she took his hand and allowed him to lead her out onto the floor. "You don't usually like to dance," Katherine said, knotting her fingers together behind his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

"No." His hands came to rest at her waist and she watched the blush rise on Maya's face while she danced with Nathan with a satisfied smile. "Although I remember you loving it."

She giggled at that, the soft instrumental music and the dimmed lights creating a careful sense of nostalgia in her. She remembered forcing him to dance countless times, laughing when he groaned and tried his best to get out of it.

The good thing about Elijah, was that he never said no. At least not to her.

They swayed for a minute in silence, both caught up in memories of each other, and Katherine was aware of the feel of his body pressed into hers, sturdy as ever. Hard to believe he'd been her rock once, she thought, and then memories of the subsequent betrayal came back and she stiffened in his arms, fighting the urge to cry.

"Why do you always do this?" He asked, hand cupping her face as she pushed herself off him. "Why can't we try again?"

"Because I can't forget," She confessed lowly, closing her eyes and forcing down the tears. "And you'll do it again, so why should I always play the fool?"

"I won't do it," She said, finally, quietly, her voice cracking as she took a step back from him. "Not anymore."

And then she left.

* * *

She slumped onto her sofa and curled up the minute she got home, too tired to do much else, still fighting the memories and the sadness. This isn't me anymore, Katherine told herself, wiping the few tears that escaped her tightly squeezed shut eyelids. I am not who I was three years ago. I will not go there again. I did the right thing, she decided finally, and was a little more composed when her front door creaked open and Maya entered.

"Hey," Maya said gently, coming to sit beside Katherine. "I brought some bourbon."

Katherine smiled and sat up, reaching for the glass Maya offered her, aware that she looked like a complete mess. "How'd it go with Nathan?"

"Shut up," Maya bumped her shoulder into Katherine's and took a swig from her own glass. "You know we're just friends."

"More than friends, if your cheeks were any indication."

Maya blushed again, looking down into the depths of the amber liquid. "Yes, well it was just the atmosphere. At least, that's what you're going to tell me, aren't you? It was the _atmosphere _that made you look at Elijah like you wanted to kiss him again."

Katherine laughed and put her arm around the younger girl's shoulders, closing her eyes. "But you and Nathan...you have something."

"I want the picket fence, Kat," Maya said sadly, absentmindedly stroking Katherine's rumpled curls. "I want three children and like a trillion pets and I want a nice quiet in the suburbs once all of this is done with. I had that with Neil, before Klaus killed him, so that's what made me come here, but I don't enjoy fighting."

"Nathan loves you," Katherine said fiercely, sitting up and downing the rest of her drink. "You can have that together. Werewolves aren't immortal, you know. You can have children, you can have the picket fence with him."

"I want what I want," She shrugged, "but does Nathan want the same thing?"

"What you want is each other."

"Maybe. Do we want each other enough to still love each other after all the sacrifices?"

The same, Katherine realized, rung true for her and Elijah. After everything they'd become, warped and twisted, animals and evil. They'd still wanted each other in the end. He still wanted her, but did she want him enough, after everything they'd done to each other? Could they make it work?

She'd most probably never know the answers, Katherine thought. But did she want to take a chance?

* * *

_a/n_; okay, so for the purposes of this story, Elijah's blood can heal vampire bites too, yay! really really unsure about this chapter, it's a bit of a mess, sorry :(

the point of this whole thing is that Elijah and Kat work out their differences, or reach a point where they're both like, we've tried too hard, goodbye.

Let's hope it's not the latter ;)

review please, also thank you guys so, so much for all of the lovely reviews you've sent me so far. I say this all the time, but honestly the only reason I update is because of how much your reviews motivate me. :D


	4. you were the first love i lost

_chapter song is this is the first thing by you me at six_

* * *

**04: Chapter Three**

Contrary to popular belief, Katherine Pierce, was not, in fact, heartless. She'd felt everything acutely as a human and as a vampire she was not much different. She also avoided turning off her humanity until it was absolutely essential, preferring instead to remain completely in control of herself for as long as she could- unsurprising, when you thought about the fact she'd had no control over herself and remained at the mercy of others for all of her human life and much of her vampire life.

So, Elijah had come into her life as an unwelcome distraction. He'd always had a sense of companionship with her, she'd known that even back then, but he _knew _her, and that meant she couldn't put on the Katherine mask and expect it to work on him. No, he was a mystery she'd have to resolve again.

Making a change to the routine where Elijah chased her all over New York, Katherine woke up the next morning and called him. She had to know where she stood, and gauge her reactions from there on.

"Come to mine," she said and hung up, deciding almost spontaneously that they needed to talk properly, and sort everything out. Katherine didn't want to hide from her problems anymore. He arrived at her door with a grim face and a bottle of Cherry Merlot.

"Are you serious about this thing?" Katherine wondered, sliding into her chair at the dining room table and gesturing for him to do the same. When he didn't answer, only looked at her, she continued, running her fingers absentmindedly in the cracks of the worn wood. "because I have to warn you, you'd have to seriously think about leaving Klaus. And even after that, if you chose to do it, I might not be able to take you back after everything and keep making myself vulnerable to have it thrown back in my face."

She kept her gaze firmly fixed on his face, aware she was breathing slightly heavier than she should be. At least, Katherine thought, she'd played her part; got it all out in the open.

"Katerina," he said, and she was reminded again just how much she hated that fucking nickname, "I know you have the cure."

It was not the response she was expecting, and she felt her heart stop as she realized that there was a weak link. Her mind was already whirring with ideas of how best to tell the others and find out who it was, when his hand came over hers, stilling the movement of her fingers as they traced circles in the wood.

"What were you going to do with it?" He said, and she noted the clench of his jaw; against all reason, he was _angry with her._ "Shove it down Klaus' throat and let all of the other vampires he'd sired just _die_? Kill yourself in the process?"

"God," She tensed and ripped her hand out from underneath his palm. "You don't understand Elijah, and I doubt you ever will. You don't get what it's like to run for most of your life; to spend every second looking over your shoulder and never spend too much time in one place because he'll get you in the end. And here, I've got something I don't want to let go of, so excuse me for needing some insurance in case he comes looking for me again. I can't let him get to these guys. "

She watched the anger drain from his body; watched as he slumped slightly in his seat. "No," he said quietly, "I don't understand that, but I thought I understood you, Katerina-apparently I didn't, at least not as well as I thought."

If there was a begrudging note of admiration in his voice, Katherine ignored it, instead choosing to close her eyes and continue getting everything she'd wanted to say to him since he'd arrived out of her system. "Another thing," She continued, fury sparking through her veins, "There are at least two sides to every man, woman and child, and here, I am Katherine. I'd appreciate it if you actually called me by my name."

He chuckled and her temper rose. "This Katherine," He began, and she forced herself to relax; told herself she could throw him out if she so felt inclined to do so. "Is different from the Katherine who used to play with people for her own amusement."

"Yes, I'm also not the same girl who was hung up on Stefan Salvatore. I am myself."

"I like you," He said softly, and her head snapped up to look at him, sure she'd misheard. Elijah was hung up on _Katerina_, not Katherine.

"No," Katherine stood, "You like _Katerina,_ because she reminds you what if feels like to be human."

"No," Elijah stepped closer to her, and she recognized the battle of wills taking place. "I like Katherine-Katerina- all of them, as long as you're you."

"You didn't."

"I was a fool." Katherine forced the tiny leap of her heart back down, and searched his face for any sign of dishonesty. For all she knew, he just wanted the cure. But to hear him admit it- that he had been hung up on her human side, but now, that he liked all of her, it was more than she could have hoped for, even when they were together.

She liked this Elijah more than she like the old one, and she'd _loved _the other one.

* * *

"Wait," Katherine placed a hand on Elijah's chest and forced him to stay behind the wall. She peered around the corner at the open door of her office, and took in the sight of Maya and Nathan talking. She watched the frown appear on Maya's face as she moved around Nathan, and focused on the sound of their voices.

"Stop it," Maya said, slamming the notebook down onto Katherine's desk. "I already told you no."

"Maya-" His hand curled around her upper arm and turned her to face him and then dropped to the desk beside her. "Just give me a chance- one chance."

"I can't," She said, leaning back against the desk and away from where his frame was caging her in. If she was really uncomfortable, Katherine thought, why didn't she just send him flying?

"But not because I don't want to."

Well that cleared that up, Katherine thought, frowning as Nathan sagged away from Maya. She understood her, she really did, but she deserved happiness-

"Katerin-Katherine," Elijah muttered, tugging her back to face him. She smiled at the attempt to do as she asked, craning her neck to watch Maya and Nathan. "Don't you think you should give them some privacy?"

Katherine shrugged, eyes fixed on the top button of his shirt. "They'll both tell me all about it, anyway."

"Still." He tugged her even more firmly to face him, and Katherine rolled her eyes because his moral compass was still firmly in place. She settled next to him with her back to Nathan and Maya and wondered when-_if_- Maya could or would give him a chance.

"Come on then," She sighed and began to walk her office. "If you can't let me have a little fun, we may as well get to work."

Katherine strode into her office and pretended not to notice that Maya was blushing furiously and that Nathan wouldn't take his eyes off her. "Right guys." She said brusquely, taking a seat at her chair and pulling the large black book out of her bag. "Think of Elijah as a visitor."

A visitor I have to try to keep everything from, she thought with an irritated sigh, and flipped open her book to today's page.

"I should have the accounting reports on my desk- George isn't usually late." She shuffled the papers around until she found the stack of typed numbers, grimacing when she saw the cost of the recent hunter attack on their budget.

"Have we replaced everything the took?" She asked Nathan, who shook his head and told her that they hadn't had time to get round to it, what with the influx of newbies flooding in and seeking shelter.

"What did they take?" Elijah had been looking out of the window while she worked, and Katherine looked up with faint surprise flickering across her face, almost dropping the highlighter she was using to highlight problem areas in the budget.

"It was a heavy attack," Maya chipped in, "The targeted one of the warehouses and burned all of the witches' herbs and potions we'd been growing and brewing. Most of it's burnt out now, and unusable."

"So," Katherine opened another page of the book where her lists of things to purchase were kept, and made another one. "We need a new warehouse, preferable one not too far from the others, and a whole new set to supplies. It could take a while to get it."

She frowned- warehouses in New York were rarely available for sale, and the witches were very keen on doing everything by the rules. It was one of the reasons Katherine couldn't just compel everything to her; she knew they wouldn't have nearly as much faith in the organisation if she did.

"I could help."

"What?"

"We have a couple of unused warehouses in New York- you could use one of those if you wanted."

"Why would you want to help the organisation that wants to kill your brother?" Maya raised an eyebrow at Elijah and Nathan nodded from behind her. Katherine twirled her pen between her fingers and watched them interact.

"That's not all you do, is it?"

"No, but-"

"Take it or leave it," he shrugged, "It was just a suggestion."

Katherine decided to leave it for the moment, and bring it up at the next meeting with the others. Still, she conceded, it was a nice thing for him to do.

* * *

**SICILY, four years previously**

Katherine leans into him with a sigh, fingers curling around the arm around her front as they sway slightly to the live band. Behind her, Elijah threads his fingers through her hair and smiles against the flower he tucked in her curls.

"You smell nice," he murmurs, and she smiles even though she knows he can't see it. The cobbles beneath her feet are cool even though the air is humid, and she looks at the bleached white walls around her and bites her lip.

"Isn't that the girl's line?"

He chuckles from behind her and she leans her head back onto his shoulder, relaxing fully into him. The guitar winds around them both and weaves them their own universe where they're happy and don't need anyone but each other.

Katherine moves away from him slightly, leaning to where some of the locals have begun to dance. Elijah's already shaking his head when she turns back to look at him, smile on her lips.

"No," he groans, "not again."

"Come on," Katherine cajoles, grasping the very ends of his fingertips with her hands and tugging him towards her. "You _like_ dancing."

"I hate dancing-"

She tugs him even closer, until his chest bumps into her chest and she looks up at him, eyes dancing wickedly with the candles flickering over her face.

"You like dancing with me."

He rolls his eyes but places his hands on her waist nevertheless, and Katherine leans onto her tiptoes to cover the distance between them usually covered by her stilettos.

"I'd forgotten how tall you are," she huffs finally, giving up and instead placing the soles of her own barefeet on his toes and tugging his head down in an effort to close the distance between them.

"That's because you always wear those death traps on your feet."

"They're _sexy_," She says, and runs her foot up the back of his leg, letting loose a giggle when he stiffens. "and you're predictable."

Elijah laughs, and she watches the lines of tension melt away from his face even though their are shadows dancing across it. Katherine reaches up and pulls his face down to hers, stealing a kiss from him.

"You're happy, aren't you?" Katherine smiles, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"_We're_ happy," he says, and his hands tighten a little more around her waist.

Yes, she thinks, but for how long? Elijah stops suddenly, and his hands cup her face gently, tilting it towards him. "Stop it," he says, and his breath plays over her face gently. "Stop doubting us. We've waited long enough for this."

"Too long," Katherine says, eyes fluttering closed as the firm pressure of his mouth falls over her own lips. He touches her like she's a dream that will slip away if he presses too hard, all soft brushes and tentative strokes.

Katherine comes fully undone, breaking for the last time, because he promises that this time is forever.

* * *

The stack of papers landed with a loud thud in front of Katherine, sending half her latte spilling over the edge of the cup. She cursed and grabbed the wad of tissues beside her and did her best to stop the spill of the liquid.

"What is this?" She moaned, checking the time on the clock as Maya and Nathan slid into their seats beside her. "I already left work, and I got like no sleep last night, I don't have time for _more _work!"

"This isn't work," Nathan said firmly, edging the thick stacks of paper towards Katherine. "Well, not organisation work."

Katherine looked at the heading on the title page and felt like she'd been sucker punched in the gut. "What is this?"

"Kat, you are way too hung up on this guy. He makes you nervous, and anxious, and completely unsure of yourself."

"Like I was before," Katherine understood, looking at Maya's comforting green eyes. "But how will this solve anything?"

"Divorcing him," Maya said, crossing her legs and leaning back into her chair more comfortably- Nathan watched the move of her legs with a gulp that would have ordinarily made Katherine smile- "Will wipe the slate clean. You can let go of him in your mind, he can become your ex again."

"It's a good idea," Nathan smiled at her reassuringly, and Katherine looked at the papers again. "You can let go of what's tying you to him once and for all."

"I don't-"

"Give it a try," Maya pushed the papers a little closer to Katherine and she picked them up, feeling the weight of them in her hands. "Look over them and decide."

I don't want to, she thought, dismay coursing through her. Divorcing him would cut all the ties- a kind of finality that they were _over_, one she wasn't ready for. They were right, though; Elijah made her unsure of who she was; of where she stood with him; and brought her back to the wreck she had been three years ago.

So, Katherine decided. They could try to work through their issues, and if that didn't work, she would divorce him and kick him out of her life.

For good this time.

* * *

Maya waited until the sun had fully set before setting out to find him. He would be at his apartment in a few seconds, she deduced from the quick tracking spell she ran, melting into the shadows on either side of the doorway.

None of the others saw her; nondescript in a grey trenchcoat and stilettoes Kat had given her for her last birthday. She blended right in. She waited carefully, watching his dark form approach the door in the night, stepping out into the moonlight just before he reached the light of the building.

"Maya," he looked surprised for a moment before the expression slipped off his face and was replaced by the mask he always wore. The only person she had seen him take it down around had been Katherine. "What are you doing here?"

She looked Elijah Mikaelson in the eyes and tilted her chin up stubbornly. "I want you to listen to me, because I will only say this once. Leave Katherine alone. Leave here. We were happy without you; she was happier without you. When she first described you, I thought that maybe, there was a chance for redemption in you, a chance that you could be pulled away from the negative family you were caught up in. And now, I know you. Your brother is a bully lower than pond scum. You left Katherine for him, and you made your choice stick to it, and leave."

She stepped back away from him and blended into the night again, not throwing him a single look back. He can't have his cake and eat it too, she thought, grim smile on her face as she walked away.

* * *

Katherine kept her gaze on the floor as she walked, mind filled with worries about the new warehouse and whether she should take it, and the divorce papers lying untouched on her desk. This was getting ridiculous, she thought, she just had so much to worry about-

She stumbled over a slightly raised pavement stone and someones hands shot out to steady her.

"If you didn't insist on wearing those death traps, I would have thought you'd have a better chance of walking in a straight line without falling over."

"Hello to you too, Elijah." Katherine rolled her eyes and made to sidestep him, unsurprised when his hand reached for her arm to pull her back. "What?"

She was acting juvenile, she knew- Elijah couldn't know that she hadn't slept since he set foot into New York City, and anyway, he didn't know about the divorce papers. She wasn't planning on telling him before she made her final decision.

"I need to talk to you," he said, and Katherine shrugged and allowed him to lead her back to his apartment; she'd finished work for the day anyway, and she doubted Elijah was going to try and get her back after the tongue lashing he received just yesterday from Maya.

"Is this about the cure?" She wondered aloud, stepping into his apartment and flopping onto his sofa with a sigh. "Because if you told Klaus about that, I'd be tempted to use it on you."

Elijah regarded her with an amused smile as he took a seat opposite her, pulling his phone from his pocket. "You know I told you Phoebe had a son?"

"Yup," Katherine closed her eyes and thought of the five hundred other places she'd rather be instead of discussing a nephew she had no feelings for but pity.

"Don't you want to see him?"

"I hope he doesn't look like Klaus," She joked, cracking open an eyelid when Elijah brandished his phone in her face.

The boy was barely a year old, but he had his mother's dark hair and Klaus' eyes and bone structure. He was the kind of boy you knew was going to grow up to be a sex bomb one day. Katherine shuddered at her thoughts and wondered whether this was what Elijah wanted to talk to her about.

"Cute," She said, tucking her legs underneath her on the sofa. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Klaus, funnily enough."

"I'm bored of Klaus," Katherine confessed, resting her chin in her hand and regarding Elijah with half closed eyes. "I have half a mind to trap him in a coffin somewhere and be done with it.

Elijah grimaced and Katherine let loose a mirthless chuckle. "Don't worry darling, we don't attack unprovoked."

"Katherine," he started, voice harsh and serious. "I need to tell you something."

"So tell me," She said, fidgeting with his phone and wondering why he had to make everything so dramatic.

"Klaus is coming up from New Orleans."

Katherine stilled on the couch, aware that Elijah was gauging her every reaction. "Because of something you said." It was a fact, uttered with a trembling rage, fury coursing through her veins.

She threw the phone at his head.

* * *

_a/n; sorry for the slightly shorter chapter today, and don't worry, kat and elijah will be getting real close real soon ;) I've also planned out exactly where I'm going with this story so yay_

thank you for the nice reviews, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	5. your hands can heal

**05: Chapter Four**

* * *

_chapter song: the civil wars; poison and wine _

* * *

"This was not my doing," Elijah's face contorted until it was almost stricken, and Katherine wondered _why _he thought he'd given her the smallest inclination that he was trustworthy to her. He hadn't been trustworthy the times before that, but she'd let him in all the same. This time, she thought grimly, standing from her armchair and prompting him to do the same. This time she couldn't go easily.

She closed her eyes and let herself imagine for a moment that they were a normal couple, one with inside jokes and little secrets and no problems that were bigger than them. The kind of couple who would have children, a nice house.

But no. They were separated by centuries.

Elijah sighed and stood by her door, expression falling into the stony mask she'd hated so much. "I'm sorry," He admitted, running a hand through his hair and briefly closing his eyes. "I know you don't have much reason to trust me- I know I'm making this more difficult than it should be."

Yes, Katherine thought, he was dragging Klaus back to a place Klaus should have remained forever separated from, whether or not he had directly informed Klaus of everything that was happening. But she'd missed him; every time after she left her, after she had run and sworn never to look back. Elijah provided an easy kind of companionship that was difficult to recreate with anyone else, because she and Elijah just _got _each other.

_"You were accustomed to each other," _Maya had said, trying to explain away Katherine's relationship issues. _"It's the same thing that happens to couples that have been married for years and years. They grow to know each other and can't deal with separation."_

"Sorry," Katherine bit out in a voice laced tightly with sarcasm. "For the loss of your phone."

Elijah forced a smirk (she could tell, he always balled his fingers into fists before he lied) and leaned against the door. "It's no problem," He smiled and turned away from her.

She figured that this might be goodbye; hated herself when she realized that she really didn't want it to be goodbye. Katherine's thoughts flitted back to the stack of divorce papers on her desk, sitting where she'd dumped them when she'd got back from the coffee shop.

He makes me weak, she thought once she'd snapped the door behind him and sunk onto the couch.

If she were cleverer, she'd stake him now. The thought sends a throb through her but she knows that if she were a better woman, Elijah would be safely ensconced in a coffin with a dagger through his heart.

She couldn't do it; there was no way.

Instead, Katherine picked up her phone and called George.

"Schedule an emergency meeting," She said to him, anxiety forming a quick, tense knot in the bottom of her stomach. "For tomorrow morning. I have something I have to tell everyone."

She listened to the crackle of his breath as he shifted- she could imagine him rolling out of bed to find his phone book. "Sure thing. Shall I do it now or in the morning?"

"Now," Katherine stressed, running a hand through her unfurling curls. "This is important."

She waited until he'd hung up on her before she sat at her desk and began to draw up plans.

* * *

"Klaus," Katherine began to the crowd of supernaturals before her. "Is coming up from New Orleans."

"A fight," One of the witches said, and she caught a glimpse of savage bloodthirstiness in her gaze- the kind of bloodlust Katherine admitted to carrying even now when it came to him. It was a feeling echoed by everyone in the room.

"We do _not_, under any circumstances, attack first. This is merely a precaution; we don't know if this visit has anything to do with confronting us."

The scoffs that followed that particular statement made Katherine roll her eyes, but she had to admit that they had a point.

"Anyway, I just want us to be secure, and I didn't want you guys to be in the dark about this thing."

"We know what to do," Maya called, shooting Katherine a reassuring smile from where she was perched on a beanbag with Nathan's arm around her. Katherine's eyes widened and she let Piper take over the debrief, settling on the carpet next to her friends.

"So," She whispered, fully aware that neither Nathan nor Maya were listening to a word that Piper was saying. "You two?"

Maya's closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head. "Just friends," She confessed.

_But he wants more, _were the unspoken words that passed between the three before Katherine shook her head and turned away. "Don't pretend," Maya muttered crossly, "That you and Elijah are any different."

"But we are. You want him; he wants you; so get together. It's not that big of a deal."

"Are you going to try and pretend that doesn't apply to you two?"

"You know it's a lot more difficult. "

"And _you _know it's difficult in different ways for us."

Katherine raised an eyebrow at Nathan, who was far too busy looking at Maya to pay any attention to her. Some things, she thought, crossing her legs and facing Piper, would never change.

* * *

**ENGLAND, four years ago**

"Sorry," he mutters when he bumps into her, and walks straight past her.

He would have continued to do just that if Katherine hadn't let loose a far too dramatic gasp, she thinks a split second after it escapes her mouth and he turns back, almost in slow motion.

"Katerina."

"Hey," She smiles, ready to play it coolly until she can find the next alleyway to blur out of. "How have you been?"

"Sit down; we should catch up."

She frowns at him and raises an eyebrow that almost disappears behind her fringe. "Last time I saw you, you gave me up to the mercy of Klaus, and now you want to have a chat? Thanks, but I'll pass."

Katherine makes a conscious effort to loosen her grip on the coffee cup in her hand; she feels the heat seep through it and into her palm and knows that if she holds it even a fraction tighter, it will explode. He inclines his head as if to say-_very well_- and Katherine feels the knot in her stomach twist tighter and she wonders whether he can sense her fear.

There will come a point, a few centuries away perhaps, where she looks at Elijah Mikaelson and feels nothing but indifference. At the moment their paths are too closely intertwined, with too much passion between them for that to happen. She hates it.

But not him.

Katherine turns away and leaves him standing there watching after her, and if she tries hard enough she is transported to a time where she wore crushed velvet gowns with the bodices laced tight, Klaus' large hand in the curve of her spine, leading her further and further away from Elijah.

Something tells her he will be at her door before the night is out; something tells her that she will let him in.

* * *

"Come with me," He asked her, and Katherine opened her door a little wider so that he could step inside. "Not away," He added hastily, taking stock of the way her face fell and a small crease appeared on her forehead. "I want to show you something."

She let him steer her into the passenger seat of his Bentley, relaxing into the buttery soft leather of the vehicle and closing her eyes. "Don't tell me you're taking me somewhere like a little forest, where we can talk about our feelings," Katherine snorted, voice harsh as she looked at him from under lidded brows. "We're far past the point of _that_ kind of saving."

Elijah said nothing, only placed his hand over hers and stilled her fidgeting. Katherine stopped for a few seconds, a tiny beat of time, before she wriggled her fingers out from underneath his and started to fiddle with the music playing.

"Anything in particular that you don't like about Bach?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes.

"He's a little boring, Elijah, don't pretend that you don't know everything has moved on."

"Maybe I prefer to live in the past."

"That's sad."

A silence fell between them- not uncomfortable and not laced with tension like the others had been, but a spell of silence. Katherine closed her eyes and relaxed in the lull of the car and the soft hum of its engine as it transported her to wherever he was taking her.

Katherine sat up with a jerk.

"You aren't taking me to Klaus, are you?"

She was infuriated by the smirk that appeared on Elijah's face as he turned to look at her, rolling his eyes slightly as he guided the car over the dips in the road. "No, Katherine, I'm not taking you to Klaus."

The graveyard he stopped outside was completely deserted; the only sound the rustling of the trees enclosing the wrought iron gates, and Katherine stepped out of the car warily, taking note of the gates locked shut and the hundreds of tombstones disappearing into the mist the graveyard was shrouded in.

"Why are we here?" She whispered, voice taking on the hushed tone it always did around the dead.

Elijah adjusted the jacket of his grey wool suit and made his way to the large gate, sure that she would follow him. "I found something I thought you might have wanted to see."

The huge, rusted padlock holding the gates together fell away easily at the touch of his hands, and Katherine followed him down the cobblestone path leading down the center of the graveyard. They were on the outskirts of New York City, she knew, just far enough away from all of the congestion that she didn't hear it or feel the busyness on her skin anymore.

"What is there for me here?" She asked abruptly as Elijah took a trail leading to a small copse of trees. "I've killed lots of people; as have you and I'm not expecting a lecture on remorse and forgiveness from you."

A light drizzle was spotting the air, and she knew that if she were human, little puffs of dragon breath would be coming out of her mouth as she spoke.

"Katherine," Elijah said, extending his hand to her. "Just trust me for two seconds."

She took his hand hesitantly as ever, but she took it nonetheless. He led her to the very center of the copse of trees, fully enclosed on all sides.

"These graves," he began, "Were of the very first immigrants who came to America by ship from Europe." He paused, and Katherine said nothing, wondering where this particular story was going to lead as the rain picked up.

"Among them was a baby girl," Elijah paused again, as if expecting her to pick something up, and Katherine was ready to scoff at him, to roll her eyes and ask him what he expected her to say, when it _clicked._

"What was her name?"

Elijah looked at her with something akin to pity and Katherine was tempted to snap it away, to brush it away as she had done for centuries, but she knew that she was allowed to show weakness in this- it was her right.

"I'll show you," He clasped her wrist in one of his large hands and led her to a large, cracked tombstone on the edge of the trees.

The grey stone was worn and riddled with imperfection from its age, and Katherine thought of her daughter- _her daughter- _reduced to nothing but crumbling bones beneath her, and she almost cried.

She didn't, of course, she knew Elijah was watching her.

"Her name was Ivanka," Katherine said, running her fingers carefully on the engraved letters on the stone and dropping gracefully to the wet earth beside her daughter's grave.

Elijah took a seat beside her and she was almost surprised- there would be mud on his suit now, something he usually tried to keep so pristine.

No parent should have to see their child die, Katherine thought abruptly, and she was transported back to her stuffy bedroom in Bulgaria and the pain ripping her apart, rough cotton shift bunched up around her thighs and her mother's hand clasped tightly in hers.

"She had three children," Elijah filled in, and Katherine wondered how many times he had sat here and thought about a family that was _hers_, and she almost hated him for it.

"Two twin girls and a boy," He continued. "She lived until she was seventy six and had outlived all of her four husbands."

Katherine cracked a smile. "If I had lived, I would have been the same."

"She died happily," Elijah continued, reaching for her hand and tugging Katherine up. "I wanted you to know that."

"Why did you find her?"

"It was supposed to be our anniversary present for the next year," He admitted, his hand creeping to the back of his neck like it always did when he was ashamed. "But obviously I left, _so..._"

He trailed off and Katherine raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow at him, making a note of the path to Ivanka's grave as they made their way out of the cemetery.

"I'm sorry," Elijah exhaled, and Katherine stopped to face him, aware that the rain was increasing, the droplets falling fast and hard as if they were little daggers piercing her skin.

"Thank you," Katherine said, wondering whether this was closure, whether this was where she turned to walk away and continued with the remainder of her undead life.

She turned away, heels sinking into the sopping grass, sheer blouse sticking to her skin, drenching her to the bone.

"Wait-" Elijah called, and in one fluid movement, he stopped in front of her.

Katherine looked up at him, water brushing the hollows of her cheeks and clinging to her eyelashes.

"Where are you going?" He whispered, and Katherine's eyes dropped to his lips, to the stubble clinging stubbornly to his cheeks, and finally to the breadth of his soaked shirt.

She closed her eyes and leaned up, angling her head the slightest bit upwards.

Elijah's hands clasped her cheeks gently; so gently she felt like a china doll, and his lips descended onto hers.

* * *

The brush of his lips onto her own opened the floodgates and Katherine was aware that suddenly, both of them were trembling. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she gently caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged slowly.

They were going through the motions of something that they had done hundreds of times before, but this was different.

Her hands fumbled underneath his shirt, dragging the soggy material from his chest and replacing it with her hands.

"Wait-" Katherine said, and pushed him off her as her phone began to ring, the tone familiar.

Her eyes widened as she lifted the phone to her ears, and he let out a long suffering sigh and led her to the car.

Katherine spent the remainder of the journey tracing patterns in the fogged windows of the car, curled up against the door in an effort to escape the conversation she knew they would have to have sooner rather than later.

"Who was on the phone?" Elijah asked, and she knew without looking from the terse note of her voice that his eyes were fixed firmly on the road.

"Nathan," Katherine replied, twisting the fabric of her blouse and ignoring the urge to wring out her hair. "Sorry I'm dripping all over your car."

"It's fine," He said, reaching to fiddle with the volume control and raise the sound of Bach.

"Thank you for showing me what you did show me today." She said, and she was pleased to find that she meant it. Maybe, Katherine thought, this was closure, and she would be able to walk away from this now.

Elijah only nodded and turned his attention back to the road, and Katherine wondered if she was imagining him stealing glances at her every few minutes.

They lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey and Katherine focused on forgetting the kiss, which was no easier than forgetting every memory of the two years that they had shared together.

It felt like an eternity before they finally pulled up outside her apartment building, and Katherine pushed the door open, only to find that it was locked and Elijah was hovering over her with a dark look on his face.

"We can try," He began, "To forget this, but it has never worked that way for us. It doesn't matter how many years, how many people get in between us, we always find a way back to each other."

"We're alone," Katherine replied, "And we hate it. Except that doesn't seem like a formula for true love." She thought back to the kiss and second guessed every word that fell out of her mouth.

Katherine left the car with a sigh and a heavier heart than when she'd entered it.

* * *

"We found the leak," Nathan said the minute she let herself into the apartment, kicking off her shoes and dragging the wet shirt from her body.

"Whoa," He said, "What happened to you?"

"Elijah happened to me," Katherine replied, stalking into her room and shutting the door. "And rain. Where's Maya?"

"On her way over," Nathan called, and then, "She said not to wait for her because she's out with friends."

"What kind of friends?" she didn't bother trying to hide the smirk on her face.

She could feel the change in mood from behind the oak door and she grinned, aware that she shouldn't be trying to wind him up but also aware that she couldn't help it.

"Shut up," Nathan grumbled as she entered the living room. "You need to know who the leak is."

She sighed and sank onto the couch next to him. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

The thought of _any_ of the people involved in the organisation leaking anything was hurtful enough, but the leak had to be someone close enough to know that she had the cure, and she kept that information quite firmly under wraps.

"I bugged his phone," Nathan said softly. "So we'll know what he's texting Klaus."

"And he is texting Klaus, I suppose."

"Yes."

"Who is it?" She held her breath and waited for a split second, watching Nathan try to pluck up the courage to tell her.

"Oh god," she groaned. "It's not Maya, is it?"

"How can you even think that?" Nathan cried out, quick to jump to Maya's defense, and Katherine could have screamed with relief. "It's George."

George was one of the oldest vampires involved; he was supposed to be the only one who could empathize with Katherine's desire for survival and what it felt like to run for centuries in an effort to stay living.

But instead, he had turned around and betrayed them all. Something in her flicked as it always did, the little switch that told her that she was not going to be merciful this time.

Only this time it was only one person her anger would be directed at.

"Katherine," Nathan started as his phone bleeped to signify an oncoming text. She watched his face fall as he read it and knew instinctively what he was going to say. "Klaus is back in New York."

* * *

_a/n: Kalijah sexy times! sort of. Sorry for the huge wait I've been super duper busy and I hope that this chapter didn't disappoint. What are your thoughts on the Ivanka twist? I thought it was kind of cute but also something Katherine would have liked to discover herself, because she's so independent and proud. _

_aaand now that Klaus is back we've got a major confrontation coming up whoop_

_what would you guys like to see happen with Kalijah?_

_any particular scenes you'd like to see?_

_let me know please :p_


	6. the only one i love to not forgive

**06: Chapter Five**

* * *

_chapter song: broken hearted girl- beyonce _

* * *

The restaurant was alive with the clink of silver cutlery and soft laughter, the piano playing gently in the corner the perfect background for any important business conversations taking place. Situated in the financial district of New York, it was the kind of place Katherine Pierce usually avoided, simply because it reminded her too much of old money and by association, the Mikaelsons'. Fitting, she thought, drawing the menu over her face and shifting slightly back in her seat, that the conversation was taking place here.

"You have to do it your terms," Nathan said, hand reaching for Maya's under the table. The three of them were wound tight as coiled springs waiting for the Mikaelson brothers to enter.

"For fuck's sake," Maya cursed, foot tapping impatiently. "I don't even know why we're here. Surely they'll know you're here the minute you walk through the door, and angering Klaus is not the kind of thing you want to do in a room full of civilians."

Katherine inclined her head and frowned. "I need to get it out of my system and see what he's come up for as soon as I can so I can figure out what to do about everything here."

Maya shook her head and smiled, shadows crossing her face. "I know how this goes for the witch- you know how it usually goes for the witch. We give up everything for nothing, and end up sacrificing our happiness and families. You're my best friend, Katherine, but I won't die for you. I refuse to become just another statistic."

"I would never have asked you to die for me. No one needs to die."

Maya clenched Nathan's hand a little tighter, aware that both he and Katherine would remain behind her if she backed out now. His thumb brushed the back of her hand gently, little circles as he shot her a reassuring smile.

"My word," Katherine said seriously. "I give my word that no one will die. I made this; I can dismantle it just as quickly, and take the full force of Klaus' rage too."

"The aim of today is not to have anyone take Klaus' rage. You didn't create this thing to destroy, you created it to defend."

Katherine thought of the family left in the Basement, people she had vowed to protect, and made her decision. Nathan was right; no matter how bloodthirsty she was, and she _was _thirsty to feel Klaus' blood in her hands, she could not put them at risk.

"Defense was our aim, but people seem to have lost sight of that."

"Don't blame them," Maya muttered, taking a sip of her wine and turning to face the door. "Make your choice now, Katherine. Fight or flight?"

Katherine watches Klaus and Elijah walk in through the glass doors of the restaurant, which distort their bodies until they look almost comic. Maya holds her palm ready, poised to cast the spell that will allow them to listen in to their conversation.

"Surely," Nathan whispered, "They would do a quick detection, to see if we were here?"

Katherine's eyes followed the length of Elijah as he turned to take a seat in the corner furthest from them. "Depends on whether they have grossly underestimated us, which they appear to have done.

"Maya, can you cast the spell?" She asked, not taking her eyes off Klaus in his thin t-shirt and jeans.

The background noise around them seemed to jar, grow louder for a few beats, and settle into a low hum. She heard Elijah clear his throat. "You brought no one with you."

"There's no threat. Katherine has shown herself to be resourceful many a time, but she has also shown herself to be a creature of habit."

Maya was concentrated on the spell, one hand still clenched in Nathan's and the other upright, facing the ceiling.

"You believe she will run." Elijah's tone was undecipherable; Klaus' laugh told her everything she needed to know.

"Obviously. This little act of rebellion is _cute_, but this is Katherine Pierce we are talking about. She values her own life, and rightly so. She knows- like everyone else involved in this little act- she knows what I am capable of. They will not be so bold when confronted."

"Why are you here then, if you are so certain that they are no threat to you?"

Their voices were as clear as if they are both wearing microphones, words sharp and clear. Maya's palm shook slightly from the effort, and Katherine willed her to keep the spell for a few more seconds.

Klaus smirked and took a sip of his wine. "Strike some fear into their hearts I suppose. I also have a proposition for Miss Pierce."

Maya's palm was shaking even more- the cutlery on their table began to shake, as did the cutlery on the neighboring tables. "Maya," Nathan hissed. "Break the spell. Break it before you draw too much attention to yourself."

Elijah's voice came finally, distorted and soft. "Leave Katherine alone."

"Get down," Maya screamed, and broke her concentration.

And then with a spectacular crash, the crystal chandelier and all the glasses in the room shattered simultaneously.

* * *

Nathan snatched Maya with a startled shout, forcing her to the ground before any shards of glass could hit her, larger body covering hers completely. "We need to leave!" He hissed, scanning the room carefully to make sure none of the people were too badly injured.

"God," Maya whispered, opening her eyes to find him completely covering her, starched material of his shirt pressed against her dress. "Erm, hi."

He laughed, and she stiffened, felt the sound in his stomach and let her head fall to the carpeted floor with a squirm. Sexual tension was not the plan for tonight. _It was not. She could allow it. _

She knew they were going to kiss the minute they locked eyes, and was promptly surprised when it was the barest brush of his lips on hers, enough to start the spiral of need which had been growing within her since she'd set eyes upon him.

"Move," Katherine whispered and forced them apart, a satisfied smile growing on her lips which Maya wanted to slap off, urging him to the back exit and trying to disguise herself within the flood of people streaming to get away from the wreckage. "I'll be right behind you."

"Is anyone hurt?" Maya asked, twisting in Nathan's arm to get a look at where the glass had landed.

"Superficial scratches," Nathan assured her, nudging her forward. "But there will be blood if we don't move."

She could imagine it- if the brothers caught sight of them, if they so much suspected they were eavesdropping, they would be directly in the line of fire. Maya gulped and hurried forward a little.

"I could take them," She joked and Nathan scoffed.

"If you wanted to _die.__"_

"Not one of my life goals," She admitted, running a hand through her hair and finally standing to blend in with the throng of people in their business suits.

"It shouldn't be," Nathan said seriously, exhaling once they were safely out of the restaurant. "You should not become wasted potential."

"Well," Katherine smirked as Maya opened her mouth to speak. "You will never be wasted potential, not while Nathan and I remain alive."

Maya laughed and the three walked away, blending into the shadows, heading for Katherine's apartment. "What about George?" Maya asked quietly, and Katherine's stomach rolled. She'd spent the night tossing and turning over what was to be done about George.

"I honestly don't know," She ran her fingers through her hair, separating the dark curls with a groan. "I thought he was my family- he obviously wasn't- and I know that some will think that he deserves to be punished. I can't punish my family."

"Just cut him off," Maya suggested, wrapping her free arm around Nathan's waist, fingers curling in the expensive material of his suit jacket. "He doesn't deserve your attention."

The two left her outside her apartment, and Katherine took note of the fact that Maya was _finally _leaning into Nathan, relaxing into his body and allowing him to hold her. She smiled as she went up to her building, refusing to let the thoughts of Elijah cross her mind.

* * *

**England, three years previously **

The silence fills the room completely, deep and foreboding. Katherine sits on the edge of their shared bed and eyes the phone lying face down on the bedside table with dry eyes.

Elijah has been growing ever more distant which every day that passes, she muses, staring out at the rolling English countryside with wide unseeing eyes, mouth turned down at the corners. She can guess the reason- she is almost certain what the reason is, but she will not allow herself to confront him. Instead, Katherine sits on the edge of her bed and waits for him to return home, running her fingers along the edge of the headboard. This ends now, she tells herself, sucking in a breath and closing her eyes.

The phone buzzes on the table; two short, sharp bleeps that signify and incoming text. She supposes he forgot tonight, so sure was Elijah that she hadn't noticed a thing. She swallows grimly and her face contorts into a bitter smile. She can be quite the actress when she wants to be.

_I am Katherine Pierce,_ she says to herself, but the words ring hollow.

Would Katherine Pierce be sitting here and waiting for a husband who doesn't put her first?

The answer is a resounding _no, _and Katherine snaps into action, rising smoothly from the bed and crossing the room to pick up the phone.

**K: You're running late. I should think you were trying to get into my good books, brother, if you want your request to be listened to. **

Katherine shakes her head and places the phone carefully back to where it lay previously, pulling her oversized handbag from its place in their shared closet. She doesn't care whether Elijah's out there bargaining for freedom from Klaus. In the end, he is supposed to choose her.

And he hasn't- she should not be in the dark about what his plans are. They should function as a team, and if he cannot trust her, their relationship is not real.

Enough, she tells herself, forcing herself to move forward and slip all the things she really needs into her bag. She has suffered for two weeks, and refuses to suffer anymore.

Katherine slips off her robe and pulls on her favorite pair of skin tight jeans and the comfiest jumper she can find, tucking her family photo album into her bag. On second thought, she takes her wedding album too.

She pulls on her heels and looks at the bed for the last time- perfectly made- as if no one slept there in the first place and promises herself that she will not waver now, even though the largest part of her wishes to fall into bed and act as if she is oblivious to any goings on.

Katherine Pierce scrunches her eyes together in an effort not to cry and switches of the light. Chapter closed, she tells herself, taking a deep breath and making her way down the stairs.

Her footsteps are heavy as she stumbles down the stairs and into the foyer, careful to commit the entire house to memory. She cannot shake the feeling that he will appear and convince her to stay.

The door has shut behind her; she's just bending to place the key under the doormat, when she feels the subtle shift in the atmosphere and knows that he is behind her. She takes a deep breath and activates her game face.

"Katerina?" He asks, and she turns around with a slow smile. It's been a year, she tells herself, a year is enough.

"Elijah. Wasn't expecting you to be back so soon."

He nods grimly and she understands that he knows something is very wrong. "Why don't we go inside?"

"No, I think here is as good a place as any for us to have this little confrontation. Tell me, where have you been these past weeks?"

He lowers his eyes to face the floor; Katherine laughs grimly. "With Klaus, I suppose. Well then," She says, and walks past him. "You made your choice."

"You don't understand," Elijah murmurs behind her, ready to run after her if needs be. Katherine feels the anger boil up inside her, burning and hot, but refuses to give into it. "I wanted to-"

"Go fuck yourself." She says with an air of finality, and blurs away from the manor.

* * *

Katherine kicked off her boots impatiently, drawing her large black book to her as she took a seat in front of her desk. The good thing about not needing much sleep, she mused, was that she could do more work.

_I'm becoming ridiculously boring, _she thought with a smile.

Try as she might, she could not bring herself to stop thinking about Klaus. He had obviously underestimated her (well, he had drawn his own conclusions from what she had shown him in the past few centuries) but maybe he was right- if someone as loyal as George could be swayed, what about the rest of them? While she had the utmost loyalty in these people, they knew Klaus as a ruthless murder- that he was- and fear could be very convincing.

And she didn't expect anyone to die for her. That was not friendship, that was slavery.

Katherine twisted her pen her hand and closed her eyes. This was all far too trying; she wished she could go back to the relatively peaceful months before, when all she cared about was killing Klaus and training the others up.

It would have been so easy to turn her humanity off after Elijah left her, but she hadn't, and she was proud of what she'd achieved since then. Even if she was certain he would always affect her and she'd never be quite sure of where she stood with him, at least they had resolved a few things. And he didn't want Klaus to hurt her, which was always a plus.

The knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts and she jumped up from her desk, slamming her book shut and stalking over to the door.

"Klaus is back." The words came from the last person she'd expected to show up at her apartment and tell her that his brother was planning on killing her, and Katherine held the door open soundlessly as Elijah stepped in, making her way to her desk again with him in tow.

"I know- I knew when he arrived."

She watched him take a seat in front of her and straighten his suit. "Well you wanted everything out in the open, so I decided to tell you what I knew."

Elijah moved with a tentative kind of grace she hadn't seen him show for at least a hundred years, smoothly placing his chin onto his hand. "Drink?" Katherine offered, turning away from his piercing brown eyes and to the decanter of whiskey. The dark floorboards were cool underneath her bare feet and she poured herself a glass, knocking it back as quickly as she did.

He took it from her hand without a word, the slightest tremor of his hand the only indication that anything was wrong. Katherine took a seat opposite him and waited for him to say what he needed.

"I don't know what he wants with you." It was a startling confession, and she caught the way he held his breath as he spoke to her, almost as if he was waiting for her to explode. "But you have some idea," She prodded gently, leaning forward and moving her hair to one side.

"Yes. I think he wants you."

Katherine laughed; the sound shattered some of the tension in the room as Elijah shot her a grim smile. "To torture?"

"To be on his side."

This time, she raised her eyebrows. "Idiot," She said softly. He must have known that there was no way she would ever trust him.

_I'm bored, _Katherine mused, making sure to keep her smile softly in place, _of talking about Klaus. And he wants me. _

"Elijah," she breathed, slowly easing herself off her chair. "Why did you come here?"

The shrill tone of his phone ringing shattered the moment and Katherine found herself fighting to disguise her eye roll as Klaus' name flashed upon the screen. "Found yourself a replacement phone, I see," She drawled, getting to her feet as he did.

"I should go," He said and she _felt _his reluctance as he downed his whiskey and grabbed his coat. Now or never, she told herself as her apartment door shut and she was left alone once more. Now or-

She raced through the door after him; still in her dress from the restaurant and barefooted, ignoring the strange looks she was the target of as she stepped out of her building. "Elijah," She called after him once she reached the alley by her building, the wet stones rough against the soles of her feet. She painted an odd picture, dressed in an off the shoulder dress which offered a tantalizing glimpse of cleavage and wound around her body, hair wavy and wild.

Katherine took an almost coy step back when he saw her, drawing on everything she knew about him to extend her arm and wait for him to make his choice.

He took it with an almost groan, and the next thing she knew, she was pressed up against her apartment building, the wall uncomfortable against her back and his lips were upon hers.

She smiled against his lips, moving one hand to stroke the rough stubble of his face and breathing in the scent of his cologne- the notes of wood and spices that had not changed. Her Elijah was a creature of habit and she could play him like a violin.

His hands found her thighs and clutched them with an almost bruising grip, pulling them up and around his waist, before blurring them both back to her apartment.

* * *

Katherine turned over silently as her phone buzzed across the room, holding her breath to see if he would wake up or even stir. He didn't, and Katherine took that to mean he was either pretending to be asleep (most probably) or that he was tired out and actually needed to sleep (the chances of that were slim to none).

She unwound the sheet from herself with a smirk and reached for her phone, blood running cold as she read the text flashing upon the screen.

**I want to meet you. I'll be waiting at the cafe at the end of your street until eleven. Come find me or I'll come find you. **It didn't take a genius to guess who that was from, she thought, deleting it quickly with shaking fingers.

"Urgh," She groaned and made her way to her closet, wanting to get the meeting over and done with as soon as she could.

A large hand brushed her waist, pulling her towards him gently and capturing her mouth with a kiss. "Elijah," She smiled up at him, internally wishing he could let her go so that she could be done with the meeting with Klaus and come back to him. "I have to go somewhere." Katherine said, gently but firmly pushing him away when he began to pepper kisses on her collarbone. "And I'll forget if you keep distracting me."

"Later then," He smiled at her, gripping her face and giving her one last, chaste kiss on the lips. "At my apartment this time. One. I'll be waiting."

Katherine was struck by how similar his words were to Klaus' and she waited until he'd left before dressing as fast as she could with shaking fingers, aware that she could be facing the end of her life, but also aware that she had to do this or her family would die, every last one of them.

And she couldn't afford to let that happen.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, Kalijah sex because you waited so long for this update :)**

**Okay so I finally settled on a faceclaim for maya and nathan which you can find at ( .com post/65803246830/nathan-and-maya**

**so tell me what you think guys (please)**


End file.
